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OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 35
OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary Journal ISSN: 2231-0398 (Online), ISSN: 2347-9949 (Print)
Volume 8, Issue 3
www.stmjournals.com
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of
Bangladesh from 1972 to 2017: Special Focus on Flood
Abdul Baten1,*, Pedro Arcos González
2, Rafael Castro Delgado
2
1Department of Statistics, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh
2 Unit for Research in Emergency and Disaster, Department of Medicine, University of Oviedo,
Campus del Cristo, E-33006 Oviedo, Spain
Abstract Bangladesh is one of the disaster prone areas of South Asia as well in the world, because of
its geographical characteristics, complex topographical features, mighty rivers system,
monsoon climate and the coastal morphology. Since 1972 the country has experienced total
297 natural disasters. Of them flood and storm are common disasters which represents
47.47%and 28.96% respectively of the total disasters. More or less each and every year
Bangladesh has been experiencing the disaster flood and since 1972 total 86 floods occurred
in Bangladesh which killed total 42279 people. But it’s a good news that the trend of deaths
by this disaster have been decreasing because the Government of Bangladesh have taken
different steps such as flood action plan, flood management model study, flood hydrology
study, flood forecasting and warning study, national water policy, national water management
plan, irrigation and drainage projects, construction of flood embankments and flood shelters.
For the overall natural disaster management the country has institutional and regulative
framework, which is monitored and implemented by different ministries and departments
collaborating with different national and international organizations.
Keyword: Disaster, flood, floodplain, vulnerability, trend, management, framework
*Author for Correspondence E-mail: batenstatjnu@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION Bangladesh is officially known as the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh located in the northeastern part of South Asia. Bangladesh occupies an area of 147,570 square kilometers [1]. It is surrounded by land borders of India in west, north, and east and a small land border with Myanmar in the southeast and divided across Naf River. The southern coastline of Bangladesh is on the Bay of Bengal. The neighboring countries of Bangladesh are Nepal, Bhutan, and China but sharing no land borders with it. The topographical feature of Bangladesh consists of alluvial soil with flat, low land. But the districts Khagrachari, Rangamati, Bandarban under the Chittagong division are extensively hilly which are all together known as Chittagong Hill Tracts. Bangladesh is the largest delta of the world, comprise with three large rivers Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna. There is lot of small rivers criss-cross all over the country under these three large rivers. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries of the world in terms of natural and anthropogenic hazards
[2]. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to natural disasters because of its geographical location, land features, excessive rivers, monsoon climate and the coastal morphology [3]. Thus, the geographical settings, meteorological characteristics and hydrological conditions are the contributing factors that make the country more vulnerable to different geo-hazards and hydro-meteorological hazards [2]. Two more common natural disasters of Bangladesh are flood and cyclone, because it’s a low-lying riverine country. Other natural disasters that also occur in Bangladesh are landslide, drought, tidal surge, tornadoes, earthquake, river erosion, etc.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The general objective of the study is to given the overview of the natural disasters of the country and its management, which happened during the last 46 years (1972–2017). The general objective focuses on the following specific objectives:
(i) To study about the most significant
natural disasters in Bangladesh.
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 36
(ii) To find out the effects of these disasters
on people’s lives, health and economy.
(iii) To study in details about the disaster
‘flood’ and its management.
(iv) To study about the emergency response
and disaster management systems of the
country.
METHODOLOGY AND DATA
SOURCES The paper has been made through utilizing the
secondary data and by reviewing literatures
from different sources.
For the analysis purposes, the Emergency
Database (EM-DAT) of the Centre for
Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
(CRED) has been used as a secondary data
source. Additionally, different national
organization’s surveys, reports and guidelines
are also utilized as a key source of information
for disaster analysis and management. The
organizations are the ministries, department or
NGO; such as Ministry of Disaster
Management and Reliefs (MoDMR),
Department of Disaster Management (DDM),
Cyclone Preparedness Project (CPP),
Bangladesh Asiatic Society, Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and World Bank.
Important map and information about disasters
are also obtained from exploring the reports,
journals, manual, guidelines, publications and
facts sheet of international organizations such
as UN, OCHA, UNISDR, UNFP, WHO,
ADRC, Prevention Web, and Google websites.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Natural Disasters in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is the developing country of South
Asia. People of the developing counties like
Bangladesh are at higher risk to natural hazard
than that of developed countries, not only
because of greater hazard frequency but also
because of greater vulnerability [4].
Bangladesh currently is in a leading position
as the world’s most disaster prone country,
because of its geographical location,
meteorological properties, excessive rivers,
over and densely population, poor information
and lack of adequate risk management.
Bangladesh has a long history of natural
disasters [5]. After the independence on 16
December 1971, in 1972 the new country got
the experience of flood and storm. The trend
of disaster is upward till now. Even in 2017,
Bangladesh experienced natural disasters
flood, landslide and storm. From 1972 to
2017, during these 46 years, Bangladesh
experienced total 297 natural disasters [6].
Frequency Distribution of Natural Disasters
in Bangladesh
From the record of EM-DAT (CRED) and on
the basis of their criteria for disaster, it was
found that since 1972 somehow every year
natural disaster happened in Bangladesh. It is
interesting and a matter of thought that same
types of natural disasters happened frequently
in Bangladesh. Of them storm (tropical &
convective), flood and epidemics are frequent.
Fig. 1: Frequency of Natural Disaster in Bangladesh since 1972. (EM-DAT/CRED).
020406080
100120140160
141
86
5 5 9 22 29
No. of Events
OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary Journal Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2231-0398 (Online), ISSN: 2347-9949 (Print)
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 37
From Figure 1, it has been seen that storm occurred 141 times and covered about 47 percent of the total disasters during the given period. The next frequently occurred natural disaster is flood and it liable for 29 percent of all natural disasters. Among all natural disasters landslides and droughts are less frequent. Geophysical disaster earthquake and climatological disaster extreme temperature happened 9 times and 22 times respectively [6].
Overall Impacts of Natural Disasters People, infrastructure, environments are vulnerable to disasters, especially to flood and storm (cyclone). For the impacts of the disasters, the country always in a distress [7]. Disasters not only responsible for death of large number of people but also affect country’s economy and health. Table 1 reported that since 1972, 229521 people have died, 396316766 have been affected and economic damaged was 19067901 (‘000 US$) due to natural disasters. It also found that majority of the people have died and affected due to flood and storm. Lion share of the economic losses were reported due to flood and storm.
Study of Flood in Bangladesh Flood is the most universal of the natural hazards and most of the remarkable floods of the globe are associated with the world’s great rivers. Generally flood can be defined as an overflow of a large amount of water beyond its normal limits, especially over the land that is normally dry. Flooding is the natural
characteristics of the rivers. So flood also can be defined as comparatively high flow of water that overflow the natural or artificial banks in any of the reaches of a stream [4]. When the banks of the rivers are overtopped, water spreads over the floodplain and generally causes huge problems for crops, vegetation and inhabitants. In Bangladesh, the definition of flood is little bit different. In the rainy season when the water flow exceeds the holding capacity of rivers and low-lying areas it swamps the whole area causing damage to vegetables, crops, home, roads, bridge and other properties. In Bangladesh, flood can be categorized as Monsoon flood, Flash flood and Tidal/Coastal flood. In Table 2 this classification is given with the characteristics of different types of floods.
Floodplains in Bangladesh On the basis of physiographic characteristics, Bangladesh can be classified into three well-defined regions; (i) Floodplain, (ii) Terrace, and (iii) Hill areas. Of them, floodplain is a very important type of landscape of the country because people have long been attached to these floodplains for the agriculture, industry and culture. Out of total area, 80% of Bangladesh is floodplain [8]. Floodplain is the almost flat area that borders the rivers, especially large complex system of converging river in a low land region. It can also be defined as relatively smooth valley floors adjacent to and formed by alleviating rivers, which are subject to overflow [4].
Table 1: Impacts of Natural Disasters on Bangladesh Since 1972 (EM-DAT). Disaster Type Total Deaths Total Affected
Flood 42279 304256323
Storm 174288 63445949
Epidemic 10188 3042429
Landslide 263 136470
Extreme Temperature 2440 414200
Earthquake 45 19395
Drought 18 25002000
Total 229521 396316766
Table 2: Categories of Floods in Bangladesh with their Characteristics. Categories of the flood Characteristics
Monsoon flood It is seasonal, increases slowly and decreases slowly, inundates vast areas
and causes huge losses to life and property.
Flash flood In this case water increases and decreases suddenly, generally happen in
the valleys of the hilly areas.
Tidal flood/ coastal flood It last for short duration, height is generally 3m to 6m, blocks inland flood
drainage
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 38
There are 18 sub units of Floodplain in
Bangladesh includes Old Himalayan Piedmont
Plain, Tista Floodplain, Old Brahmaputra
Floodplain, Jamuna (Young Brahmaputra)
Floodplain, Haor Basin, Surma–Kushiyara
Floodplain, Meghna Floodplain; Ganges River
Floodplain, Ganges Tidal Floodplain, the
Sundarbans, Lower Atrai Basin, Arial Beel,
Gopalganj–Khulna Peat Basin, Chittagong
Coastal Plain, and Northern and Eastern
Piedmont Plain. Again, Meghna floodplain
consists of four sub units as Middle Meghna
Floodplain, Lower Meghna Floodplain, Old
Meghna Estuarine Floodplain, and Young
Meghna Estuarine Floodplain.
Frequency of Flood in Bangladesh
Flood is an annual natural phenomenon of
Bangladesh. Every year in any part of the
country is overwhelmed by flood. Since 1972,
Bangladesh has experienced total 86 disasters
flood [6].
From Figure 2, it can be seen that Bangladesh
experienced highest number of riverine flood
(46 times) between from 1972 to 2017. Flash
flood and other types of flood also occurred
frequently.
Historical Events and Impacts
In Bangladesh, floods are more or less a
recurring phenomenon and most of them are
within endurable limits. But sometimes they
become devastating. In Bangladesh, each year
about 26,000 sq km, 30% of the country is
flooded, but may be up to 70% in the severe
years [9]. Since 1972, each year Bangladesh
has experienced the event flood. Even on 28
September 2017, Bangladesh experienced
devastating flood, which killed 145 people, 8
million people have been affected across 32
districts, destroyed 103,855 houses, and
damaged 4,636 education infrastructures [10].
From Table 3, it can be easily demonstrated
that flood is one of the most devastating
disaster in Bangladesh. During last 4 decades
Bangladesh experienced total 86 floods and
42279 people have perished (Table 3). But the
severity of all floods was not equal.
From the trend line of Figure 3, it has been
found that the number of death has been
decreasing by the floods during 1972 to 2017.
Causes of Flood in Bangladesh
In the north region of Bangladesh, there are
large areas of shallow flooding interspersed
with more deeply flooded pockets in meander
scars and old flood basins [4]. In the northern
and eastern areas of the country flooding is
caused by drainage congestion which exists
everywhere except in the highland hilly
territory (Figure 4).
Fig. 2: Frequency of Flood in Bangladesh on the Basis of their Types (EM-DAT/CRED).
Table 3: Total Impacts of Flood Since 1972 (EM-DAT/CRED).
Total Event Total Deaths Total Affected Total Area Affected (km2)
86 42279 396316766 747230.11
46 54%
11 13%
2 2%
27 31%
Frequency of Flood Types
Riverine flood
Flash Flood
Coastal Flood
Others
OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary Journal Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2231-0398 (Online), ISSN: 2347-9949 (Print)
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 39
Fig. 3: Trend of Affected Population due to Disasters (1972–2017).
Fig. 4: Flood Affected Area of Bangladesh. Source: Banglapedia.
From Figure 4 it is also seen that the south part
of the country, a highland and hilly area
separates the Ganges from the deep flood
basin in Chalan Beel and in the northwest
region east all the monsoon drainage of the
Atrai River and south of the Tista river passes
through the flood basin to the Brahmaputra
[4]. The northeast and southeast regions are
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
No
of
De
ath
s
Year
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 40
characterized by flash floods because of hill
catchment drainage. Majority of the south-
central and southwest regions, flooding is
mainly associated with poor drainage, tidal
and storm surges. The northern half of the
south-central areas of the country is the
principal floodplain of the Padma and Lower
Meghna, and the southern half is the chief
network of estuary channels which is liable to
distribute about 40% of the Lower Meghna
flow to the sea [4]. In the southwest region, the
drainage system silted ex distributaries of the
Ganges connected to the sea by a largely
Moribund Delta which creates extensive
shallow flooding.
The main cause of flood in Bangladesh is excessive rainfall in the catchment areas of the rivers. The monsoon belt with the Himalayas in the North Bangladesh makes the region of heavy rainfall. Approximately 80% of the rainfall occurs during the 5 month period from May to September. About 90% of the water carried by our main river system, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, the Ganges, the Meghna and other smaller rivers is brought from outside the country. The magnitude of the flood depends on the how much of excess water that is generated. Though the primary cause of flood is heavy rainfall in the catchment area of the rivers, there are some other factors which may aggravate the floods are (i) general low topography of the country with major rivers draining through Bangladesh including a congested river network system, (ii) rainfall in the upstream country or in the mainland, (iii) snow-melt in the Himalayas, (iv) river siltation or landslides that reduces the carrying capacity of the rivers and aggravate the flood, (vi) human intervention of the environment such as deforestation in the catchment area that accelerate the downstream water flow, (vii) slowing down of the river outflow by tidal and storm, (viii) construction of barrages and protective works along the banks of the river and (ix) tectonic anomalies those change the river flow or morphology.
Exposure and Vulnerability
Flood is very common hazard in Bangladesh
and the country is always in a risk of this
natural phenomena. According to the
INFORM risk index of Bangladesh the flood is
the only hazard which obtained score 10 out of
10. So it can be easily said that the country is
high risk in flood. In a broad sense the country
is vulnerable to this hazard because of the
world's mightiest river systems, river bank
erosion, low elevation from the sea, global
warming and climate change, dominance of
floodplain and a growing and densely
population. Most of the people in coastal and
rural areas of Bangladesh are in poverty line.
They build their house in risk areas not only
for lack of land but also for agricultural
purpose. The riverside land is fertile with
alluvial soil and this led people to develop
farming and agricultural industry. But the
economic development in the rural areas is
largely hampered, as every year the people
lose their property and livelihood because of
flood. The agricultural and food sector has
been suffering and vulnerable to floods. After
floods farmers suffer from acute shortage of
seeds and sapling. The flood becomes
disastrous due to climate change, bad
urbanization, unplanned growth of settlements
in flood-prone areas, weak construction and
overreliance on flood control works such as
levees and reservoirs [9]. Delayed warning and
evacuation, lack of information to the public,
rejection of the population to be evacuated and
inadequate temporary shelter make the flood
more disastrous. Women, elder people (age
over 60) and children are more vulnerable to
the disaster flood because of their lack of
physical capacity to the torrent browse.
Drowning is the biggest killer in the floods.
Flood create deadlock situation in
communication system, educational institution
and official organizations. After floods,
outbreaks of different types of disease are very
common such as diarrhea, skin disease, eye
infection, etc.
Flood Management System of Bangladesh
Flood Management Measures Flood Management measures are aimed at reduction of damage and harmful effects, and creation of an environment for enhanced economic activity [11]. There are two options for flood management measure such as (i) structural measures regarded as the control of physical process of flooding and protection of the vulnerable area up-to minimum level of flooding by engineers and local people
OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary Journal Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2231-0398 (Online), ISSN: 2347-9949 (Print)
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 41
introducing dam, embankment, dyke, polder, levee, etc., and (ii) Non-structural measures regarded as reduction of loss or damage by social scientists and conservationist introducing flood forecasting and warning, flood fighting, evacuation and shelter management, flood insurance, floodplain zoning, changes in cropping pattern, etc. [11]. The integration of these measures is prerequisite for effective disaster management. To deal with floods the GoB has been developing and implementing various measures in the country with better equipments such as flood action plan, flood management model study, flood hydrology study, flood early warning study, national water policy national water management plan, and construction of flood embankments and flood shelters [9].
Flood Action Plan (FAP) In 1987 and 1988, the country experienced two disastrous floods. A multi-dimensional flood study—Flood Action Plan (FAP) initiated based on several earlier studies by UNDP, a French Engineering consortium, USAID and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and it received much attention from the donors as the flood of 1988 is one of the most disastrous flood in the history of Bangladesh [4]. As the request of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) the World Bank had played the leading role for the financial assistance of FAP. The FAP included 29 different components of which 11 (Brahmaputra Right Bank strengthening, Brahmaputra Right Bank, Brahmaputra Left Bank, Ganges Right Bank, Meghna Left Bank, North East Region, Cyclone Protection project, Dhaka Town Protection, Other Town Protection, Flood Forecasting and Early warning, and Flood
preparedness) were regional, with some pilot projects, and the remaining were supporting studies on the issues such as environment, geographic information system, socio-economic studies, topographic mapping, river survey, flood modeling, flood proofing, fisheries, flood response, etc. [4]. The goal of the FAP is to put the foundation of a long-term programme for obtaining a permanent and inclusive solution to the flood problem of Bangladesh.
Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation
projects
To provide a greater security for crop
production, flood control and drainage is used
as a way for reducing the depth of flooding or
control of flooding. To reduce the detrimental
effect of floods and to take the advantages of
surplus water for irrigation, the Bangladesh
Water Development Board (BWDB) have
constructed a number of dam, embankments,
levee, barrages and canals (Table 4).
Flood Forecasting and Warning in
Bangladesh
For flood forecasting, a network of hydrological
stations connected with telemetering gauges
links with the Flood Forecasting & Warning
centre (FFWC) has been established by the
BWDB. To enhance the disaster management
capacity of national agencies and communities,
FFWC generates and provides flood forecast
and warning information by using the
appropriate scientific principles, real-time data,
weather forecast information and mathematical
models. Hydrological data comprise with
discharge, rainfall records and water level.
Recorded historical data have been used in
forecasting procedure.
Table 4: Lists of Some Important and Major Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Projects with
their Locations. Name Location
The Ganges-Kobadak Irrigation Project
(G-K Project) In the districts of Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jhenaidaha and Magura
Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) Project Between the cities of Dhaka and Narayanganj and bounded by the Buriganga
and the Shitalakshya river
Karnafuli Multipurpose Project In the district of Rangamati on the river Karnafuli
Tubewell Project in Northern Bangladesh In Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts
Brahmaputra Right Bank Embankment On the right bank of the Tista and the Brahmaputra
Chandpur Irrigation Project In the Chandpur and Comilla districts
Meghna-Dhonagoda Project In Matlab upazila of Chandpur district.
Tista Barrage Project In the districts of Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari
Pabna Irrigation Project In the Pabna district
Dhaka Integrated Flood Protection Project In the western part of Dhaka city
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 42
In case of major rivers, correlation of water
levels or discharges between upstream and
downstream stations is used in forecasting
procedure [12]. On the other hand for rivers
with smaller catchments flood routing,
rainfall-runoff relation and co-axial graphical
correlation methods are used. For forecasting
and warning system, BWDB uses the remote
sensing data along with ground data. Remote
sensing data also used to delineate the flood
affected areas.
Institutions Responsible for Flood
Management
In Bangladesh about 53 central government
organizations and 13 ministries are involved in
flood and water management [13]. Of them the
BWDB play leading role for flood
management is the Bangladesh. Besides
BWDB many other organizations are also
involved in the flood management activities at
different stages of flood management. Some
Organizations and their corresponding
responsibilities in flood management are given
below:
Bangladesh Water Development Board: The
activities of BWDB include feasibility Studies,
implementation, operation and maintenance of
flood management projects, real time data
collection for flood forecasting and warning
services, dissemination of flood information at
national and regional levels.
Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief:
Look after overall disaster management and
relief and work as coordinator of all national
organization regarding disaster.
Water Resources Planning Organization: It
works for overall planning of water resources
management.
Joint River Commission: This commission
conducts negotiation for data and information
exchange on Trans-boundary (India-
Bangladesh-Myanmar) rivers.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department
(BMD): The department forecasts long,
medium and short range weather and
disseminate them.
Department of Disaster Management (DDM):
This department work under the Ministry of
Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR)
its activities include dissemination of
information for all disaster, preparedness
awareness, etc.
Non-Government Organizations (NGO): Activities include flood management, Relief
and Rehabilitation of flood victims.
Disaster Management and Risk Reduction
Strategies of Bangladesh
Institutional Framework for Disaster
Management According to MoDMR of Bangladesh,
‘disaster management means methodical institutional structure and program for disaster
risk reduction and immediate response after disaster.’ In Bangladesh, a series of inter-
related national and sub-national levels institutions have been created for disaster
management (Figure 5). As per the rules of the Government of Bangladesh, MoDMR is the
key organization which is liable to develop policies, assemble plans, and monitor and
coordinate all aspects of disaster activities.
The field level activities of MoDMR are conducted by two subordinate offices; (i)
Department of Disaster Management (DDM) and, (ii) Cyclone Preparedness Centre (CPP).
Activities of DDM include dissemination of
all information on natural disasters such as flood information and warning at community
level, flood preparedness, awareness raising, capacity building training, and also are
accountable for conducting relief and rehabilitating actions collaborating with the
district and Thana/Upazila administrations.
While CPP activities include dissemination of early warning and information of the cyclone,
giving primary aid during cyclone, searching, rescuing and transferring people to the safe
shelter, help in distributing relief in the asylum, etc.
Prime national level Disaster Management
institutions include: NDMC; Inter-Ministerial
Disaster Management Coordination Committee (IMDMCC); National Disaster
Management Advisory Committee (NDMAC); National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
(NPDRR); Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee (EPAC); and Focal
Point Operation Coordination Group of Disaster Management (FPOCG) [9]. The
National Disaster Management Advisory Council (NDMAC) and Inter-Ministerial
Disaster Management Coordination
OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary Journal Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2231-0398 (Online), ISSN: 2347-9949 (Print)
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Committee (IMDMCC) are accountable for coordinating all disaster related activities at
the national level. District, Thana and Union Disaster Management Committees shall
coordinate at the respective District, Thana/Upazilla and Union. The Disaster
Management Bureau helps them in the whole
process. A series of inter-related national and sub-national institutions have been worked to
ensure coordination of disaster risk reduction, effective planning and quick emergency
response.
Disaster Management Regulative
Framework
To manage the pattern of disaster management,
a disaster management regulative framework
has been established which is accountable for
implementation of the Bangladesh Disaster
Management Frame work (Figure 6). The
activities of Ministries, Departments, NGOs
and civil society are undertaken by this
regulative frame work. The regulative
framework delivers the pertinent legislative,
plan and policy, and best practice framework.
The activities of Disaster Risk Reduction and
Emergency Response Management in
Bangladesh is supervised and implemented by
this framework. The regulative framework is
consists of Disaster Management Act, Disaster
Management (DM) policy, National Plan for
Disaster management and Standing Orders on
Disaster (SOD) (Figure 6).
Disaster Management Act
The act (Act no 34) was issued by the
Government of the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh on 24 September 2012. The act is
comprised of six chapters (Preamble,
Organizational Structure of Disaster
Management, Disaster zone declaration,
participation of different forces, etc., Disaster
Management Fund, Relief vault, etc., Offense,
punishment, etc., Miscellaneous) and under
these six chapters there are 60 sections. For
explanation, there are some clauses under each
section.
Fig. 5: Disaster Management Institutional Framework of Bangladesh. Source. ADRC.
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 44
Fig. 6: Disaster Management Regulative framework of Bangladesh. Source ADRC.
In 2012, the disaster management act was
enacted to make the activities about disaster
management coordinated, object oriented and
strengthened and to formulate rules to build up
infrastructure of effective disaster
management to fight all types of disaster [14].
The Disaster Management Act created as the
tools of legislative framework under which
disaster risk reduction and emergency
management operations are undertaken in
Bangladesh, and providing the legal basis
under which activities and actions are
identified and managed [15]. It also regulates
the mandatory rules and responsibilities of
Ministries, committees and appointments.
National Disaster Management Policy (NDMP)
The National Disaster Management Policy has
been introduced to define the national
approach on disaster risk reduction and
emergency response management. It also
describes the strategic policy framework,
national principles, broad national objectives
and strategies of disaster management in
Bangladesh.
National Plan for Disaster Management
(NPDM)
The National Plan for Disaster Management
(NPDM 2010–2015) was the first policy
document prepared by Ministry of Food and
Disaster Management. NPDM 2010–2015
reflected a paradigm shift from disaster relief
and response to a comprehensive risk
reduction culture, with emphasis on capacity
strengthening, helped to achieve several
milestones leading to the Disaster
Management Act (2012) [9]. The NPDM
2010–2015 was worn from regional and
international frameworks including the
SAARC Disaster Management Framework
and the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA).
A evaluation of NPDM 2010–2015 indicated the need to focus on the following issues:
urban disasters; capacity strengthening at
district and Upazila administrations; resourcing for DM plan implementation;
integration of gender; information management; synergy between DRR and
climate change adaptation plans; monitoring; coordination and command system; user-
friendly planning; and proactive dissemination [9]. Thus, it becomes necessary to issue
NPDM 2016–2020 and thus it was published in March 27, 2017. The NPDM 2016–2020 is
prepared under the guidance of MoDMR and is aligned with national, regional and global
frameworks including: Vision 2021, which is concerned with protection from climate
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change and environmental impacts, and ecological development; the Government of
Bangladesh 7th 5-year plan regarding to the
overall goal of DM in Bangladesh to build
resilience and corresponding identification of national resources; Asia Regional Plan for
Implementation of the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
(SFDRR), which is integrated into the objectives GoB’s 7
th five year plan;
Bangladesh Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (BCCSAP), Paris Climate Change
Agreement, providing Bangladesh the opportunity to leapfrog into a sustainable
future by investing on renewable energy; and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),where
DRR is the foundation and allows safeguarding development efforts from
disasters [9]. The main objectives of the NPDM 2016–2020 is to guide implementation
of the Disaster Management Act 2012, allowing ministries of the government and
other organizations to use it to make their annual work plans. In NPDM 2016–2020
social and cross cutting strategy are included
and informed all disaster management initiatives, policies, programs and planning:
To ensure inclusion of gender issues in decision making and involvement of men and
women in all NPDM 2016–2020 priority actions; To ensure sufficient considerations for
people with vulnerabilities across implementation of NPDM 2016–2020 [9].
Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD)
The SOD outlines the disaster management systems in Bangladesh and describe in detail
the roles and responsibilities of different committees, Ministries, Departments and all
other organizations involved in disaster risk reduction and emergency response
management. It also established the essential
actions that are required in implementing Bangladesh’s Disaster Management Model
such as to defining the risk environment, managing the risk environment and responding
to the hazardous environment [15].
Involvement with Different International
Organizations and Frameworks
Co-operations
UNISDR, United Nations Office for
Disaster Risk Reduction
UNHCR, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees
UNOCHA, United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
WFP, World Food Programme
UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund
FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization
ADRC, Asian Disaster Reduction Center
ADPC, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center
ESCAP, Economic & Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific
INSARAG, International Search and
Rescue Advisory Group
RIMES, Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard
Early Warning System
IFRC, International Federation of Red
Cross
Handicap International & Save the
Children
Frameworks
HFA, Hyogo Framework For Action
SAARC, South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation
UNFCCC, UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change
MDG, Millennium Development Goals
SDG, Sustainable Development Goals
SFDRR, Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction
CONCLUSION The paper clearly presented that the country is
highly disaster prone and faces a lot of natural
hazards. There are many natural hazards that
makes the country highly vulnerable to
disaster includes flood, earthquake, landslide,
drought and epidemics. Since 1972, total 297
natural disasters occurred in Bangladesh by
which 229521 people have died and
396316766 people have been affected. Rapid
urbanization, densely population, geographical
features, excessive rivers, poor economy,
climate change are the main contributing
factors of natural hazards. From the analysis of
the profile, it was also found that flood is one
of the most common and frequent natural
disasters in Bangladesh. Last 46 years
Bangladesh experienced total 86 floods and
this is about 29% of the total natural disasters.
During this period flood killed 42279 people
and affected another 396,3167,66 people. So it
Natural Disasters and Management Systems of Bangladesh Baten et al.
OSMJ (2018) 35-47 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 46
can be easily said flood is the devastating
natural disaster in Bangladesh. There are many
underlying factors are liable for flood in
Bangladesh includes excessive rivers and river
systems, huge floodplain, heavy rainfall in the
catchment area of the rivers, water flow from
the rivers of India and Myanmar, general low
topography, snow-melt in the Himalayas,
human intervention of the environments. For
disaster management and risk reduction, the
country has an institutional, regulative and
legislative framework. In Bangladesh,
MoDMR is playing the leading role for
disaster management and risk reduction.
Disaster flood is specially deal by BWDB with
the MoDMR and other ministries and
organization. They have taken different
initiative for flood management and reducing
risks include flood action plan, flood
management model study, flood hydrology
study, flood early warning study, national
water policy national water management plan,
and construction of flood embankments and
flood shelters. Bangladesh is now in
transitional moment, recently the country has
overcome the threshold of lower middle
income country and trying to reach middle
income country within 2021 and for that GoB
announced ‘vision 2021’ where priority is
given to the disaster management and risk
reduction. With other national and
international stakeholders, the country has
taken several steps to become resilience to
disasters. But for reducing the vulnerability of
disaster people of Bangladesh need to be more
aware, informative and conscious about
different hazards. The GoB need to be
increased more budget and given more
concentration to this sector for the country’s
development and to reach its ‘vision 2021’.
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Cite this Article
Abdul Baten, Pedro Arcos González,
Rafael Castro Delgado. Natural Disasters
and Management Systems of Bangladesh
from 1972 to 2017: Special Focus on
Flood. OmniScience: A Multi-disciplinary
Journal. 2018; 8(3):
35-47p.
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